JP2002034889A - Control device of endoscope - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a control device of an endoscope that does not require adjustment of a braking force and helps easily set half locking. SOLUTION: This control device of an endoscope is structured so as to make a friction member 14 disposed on the locking section 1 side move up and down, come in close contact with a application member 22 disposed on the bending operation section 2 side by the rotation of a locking knob 1A, and prohibit the rotation of the bending knob 2A, and the friction member 14 is formed so that it may easily elastically deform vertically.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an endoscope for medical or industrial use, and more particularly to an endoscope operating device capable of bending the distal end side of an insertion portion into a desired shape by manual operation.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An endoscope is provided with an insertion portion for insertion into an object to be observed, such as a body cavity or a jet engine, and a bending portion for bending a bending portion on the distal end side of the insertion portion into a desired shape. When the rotating shaft provided on the base end side of the insertion section is rotated by the bending operation section, this rotating operation is transmitted to the bending mechanism via a wire, and the bending section bends vertically and horizontally. It is supposed to. Usually, the endoscope is also provided with a lock mechanism that can prevent the operation of the bending mechanism when the lock operation section is rotated around the rotation axis, so that the bending shape of the bending section can be maintained. It has become.

The lock mechanism includes, for example, a friction member which is linearly moved (stopped) in the axial direction of the rotation shaft by receiving the rotating power of the lock operation portion on the side of the lock operation portion, and a bending operation portion. There is known a device provided with a bending operation portion and a contact member which rotates integrally with the bending operation portion on the side.

That is, in such a lock mechanism, when the lock operation portion is rotated in a certain direction, the friction member moves in one direction by the action of the screw and starts to come into close contact with the contact member.
When the lock operation portion is further rotated to bring the friction member into close contact with the abutting member, the friction force generated between the two brakes or prevents the bending operation portion from rotating. State. Thus, for example, it is possible to prevent a problem that the bending operation unit is rotated even though the bending operation is not performed, and the bending shape is changed.

By the way, as a friction member used in the lock mechanism, as shown in FIG. 11, a donut type made of cork or rubber is known. Such a donut-shaped friction member 14 'is not easily deformed by the action of an external force. That is, it has a stable shape that is not easily crushed. For this reason, in the friction member 14 ', the vertical direction from when the bending operation portion is fully locked due to the sufficient frictional braking force applied after the friction member 14' comes into contact with the abutment member and causes displacement in the thickness direction. The displacement (stroke) is very small.

[0006] Therefore, when the lock operation section is rotated, the braking force changes and increases rapidly at a small rotation angle, and fine adjustment of the brake is required. In other words, this means that the assembled state of both the friction member fixed on the lock operation unit side and the abutting member fixed on the bending operation unit side opposite to the friction member is properly adjusted. By adjusting, the time until the lock starts to be applied, and hence the time until the brake is fully applied, is adjusted.

[0007] Under such circumstances, it is necessary to adjust the braking force, which is troublesome and troublesome. In addition, even when the bending portion is in the bending state, the bending of the bending operation portion in accordance with the external force acting on the bending portion. The release of the state, that is, the setting of the so-called half lock, could not be easily performed.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an operating device for an endoscope which does not require fine adjustment of a brake and can easily set a half lock.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a bending mechanism for rotating a knob for bending operation to bend the distal end side of an insertion portion to be inserted into an observation object, and a rotating knob for locking operation, A lock mechanism for holding the rotation of the bending mechanism in a locked state, and the rotation of the lock operation knob causes the friction member provided on the lock mechanism to move up and down and to be provided on the bending mechanism. An operation device for an endoscope which is in close contact with an abutment member and prevents rotation of a knob for bending operation, wherein the friction member is formed in a shape which easily undergoes elastic deformation in a thickness direction. I have.

It is preferable that the friction member has a plurality of gaps for facilitating elastic deformation in the thickness direction.

The gap provided in the friction member is preferably made up of irregularities or holes.

The gap provided in the friction member is preferably formed radially.

It is preferable that the friction member is formed in a disk shape and is formed so that displacement in the thickness direction is more likely to occur than displacement in the circumferential direction.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 shows an endoscope to which an operation device according to the present invention is attached.
The endoscope includes an operation unit 100, an insertion unit 101, a light source device 103 connected to a connector 102, and the like.

The operation unit 100 is provided with an operation device 104 having knobs 2A and 4A.
By rotating the 4A, the bending portion 101A provided on the distal end side of the insertion portion 101 can be bent in any direction of up, down, left, and right through power transmission means using a wire (not shown). An observation window, an illumination window, and the like (not shown) are provided at the distal end of the insertion unit 101. Can be observed. On the other hand, illumination light from the light source device 103 is guided to the illumination window via a light guide, and projects and illuminates a desired portion of the observation target.

Next, an operation device for an endoscope according to the present invention will be described. 2 to 6 show an operating device 104 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The operating device 104 has, as a schematic configuration, a lock operating unit 1 for locking left and right on a housing 6, Bending operation unit 2 for bending
, A rotating shaft 3, a bending operation section 4 for up / down bending, a lock operation section 5 for up / down locking, a bending mechanism (not shown) for left / right and up / down, and a locking mechanism for left / right and up / down 7 is provided.

The lock operation unit 1 for right and left lock is for holding the rotation operation of the bending operation unit 2 in a locked state by using a lock mechanism 7 described later. A knob 1A for left and right locking, which is attached as possible, a cylindrical member 11 integrally fixed to the knob 1A, a brake rod 12 fixed to the cylindrical member 11 with a fine adjustment screw 11A, and a screw on the brake rod 12. Combined brake member 1
3 and a friction member 14 fixed to the brake member 13.

As shown in FIG. 3, the cylindrical member 11 is integrally attached to the knob 1A using a screw (not shown) or the like, and a fixing screw 31 screwed to the top of the rotating shaft 3.
In addition, the brake member 13 is rotatably externally inserted into the cylindrical portion 13C on the center side. The cylindrical member 11 is rotatably disposed on the brake rod 12, and is provided with a seal by an O-ring S1. After fine adjustment of the vertical position of the cylindrical member 11 with respect to the brake rod 12, the cylindrical member 11 is integrated with the brake rod 12 with a fine adjustment screw 11A. Thus, the turning operation of the knob 1A also causes the brake rod 12 to turn in the same direction by the same angle.

The brake rod 12 has a substantially cylindrical shape with an open upper part, and is provided with a female screw portion 12A with a female screw on the inner peripheral surface side. The brake rod 12 has a rotation hole 12B opened at the center side, and is rotatably inserted into a cylindrical portion 21E having a circular cross section provided on an upper outer periphery of a shaft portion 21A of the rotation member 21 described later. The sealing property is given by the O-ring S2.

On the other hand, inside the brake rod 12, a brake member 13 is screwed from above, and on the outer peripheral surface side, a male screw part 13A having a male screw threaded with the female screw part 12A of the brake rod 12 is cut. have. The brake member 13 has a slide guide portion (hereinafter, referred to as a square shaft portion) having a non-circular shape such as a rectangular cross section provided above the rotation shaft 3.
A non-rotating slide portion 13B having a non-circular shape such as a square hole engaging with 3A is provided, and a circular shaft portion 13C on which the cylindrical member 11 can freely rotate is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the slide portion 13B. Are formed. Therefore, when the brake rod 12 is rotated along the female screw portion 12A,
Since the brake member 13 screwed thereto is prevented from rotating, it is pushed out in the axial direction of the rotating shaft 3, that is, in the up and down direction by the action of the screw, and moves straight along the outer peripheral surface of the square shaft portion 3 </ b> A. Has become.

The friction member 14 is made of a material having a high friction coefficient, such as cork or rubber, and is formed in a substantially donut shape. In the present invention, in particular, the friction member 14 has a thickness (parallel to the axial direction of the rotating shaft 3). It has a shape with enhanced elasticity in the vertical direction.

The bending operation section 2 for bending left and right is operated by rotating a knob 2A for bending left and right to bend the bending section on the distal end side of the insertion section to be inserted into the object to be observed. , A rotation member 21, a contact member 22, and a pulley 23 (see FIG. 4).

The knob 2A is integrally fixed to the rotating member 21 by a set screw 2B. When the knob 2A is rotated in either the forward or reverse direction, the knob 2A in the left-right direction of the insertion portion is rotated. Bending operation is performed. The rotating member 21 has a shaft portion 21A that forms a rotation shaft in the center portion formed to be long in the up-down direction.
A pivot hole 21 </ b> B having a central portion hollowed out in a circular cross section is formed so as to penetrate in the up-down direction, and is rotatably mounted on the pivot shaft 3. This shaft portion 21A is, as shown in FIG.
The lower end portion is in contact with a base portion 3C of the rotating shaft 3, which will be described later, and rotates during a bending operation while maintaining the contact state with the base portion 3C. Further, a pulley 23 in which a pair of wires (not shown) is wound around a lower end portion is fixed to the shaft portion 21A.

The pulley 23 is rotated integrally with the knob 2A by the knob 2A in either the forward or reverse direction and rotated by the same angle in the same direction, thereby winding one of the wires. At the same time, the other is paid out. That is, by the winding / unwinding operation of the wire, the bending portion is pulled in one of the left and right directions and bent in the same direction.

On the other hand, in FIG. 3, the contact member 22 is disposed in the brake rod 12 directly below the friction member 14, and
The interlocking portion 22A, which has a square hole or the like that engages with the detent portion 21C whose outer peripheral portion is formed in a non-circular shape such as a square cross section, is opened, and thereby the rotation is performed integrally with the rotation member 21. I do. In addition, the interlocking part 22 of the contact member 22
A is sandwiched between the retaining member 24 and the step portion 21D of the shaft portion 21A from above and below.
Even when A is rotated, the A is always rotated at a constant height with respect to the rotation shaft 3.

The rotating shaft 3 has a fixing screw 31 screwed on the uppermost portion in order from the upper side, and the above-described square shaft portion 3A is formed immediately below the rotating shaft 3, and a round shaft portion is formed below the rotating shaft portion 3A. 3
B is formed. Also, at the lowermost part of the rotating shaft 3,
The base 3C is formed, and right and left pulleys 23 are fixed immediately above the base 3C, as described above.
The base portion 3C is provided with a substrate 6 on the housing 6 described later.
2 is fixed.

The bending operation section 4 for bending up and down is configured to rotate the knob 4A for bending operation to bend the tip end side of the insertion section to be inserted into the observation object in the vertical direction.
As shown in FIG. 5, the control device includes a knob 4A, a rotating member 41, a contact member 42, and a pulley 43. this house,
The knob 4A is integrally fixed to the turning member 41 by a set screw 4B, and the turning operation of the knob 4A in either the forward or reverse direction allows the insertion section to bend vertically. .

The rotating member 41 has a shaft portion 41A forming a rotating shaft formed in a central portion thereof, which is formed to extend long in the vertical direction, and a rotating hole 41B formed by hollowing the center portion of the shaft portion 41A in a circular cross section. Are penetrated vertically.
The shaft portion 41A is rotatably externally mounted on the outer peripheral side of the shaft portion 21A, while the shaft portion 21A is externally mounted on the rotating shaft 3, and these shaft portions 21A and 41A are connected to the rotating shaft 3A. It is designed to rotate coaxially around the center. The rotating member 41 has a cylindrical projection 41G formed on the upper portion thereof. The projection 41G is configured to abut against a rotating groove 21G provided on the lower side of the rotating member 21 from below. Inserted in the correct state. The projection 41G is rotatably supported on the outer peripheral surface of the shaft 21A provided on the rotating member 21 with the O-ring S3 interposed therebetween.

The shaft portion 41A has a rotating portion 41C formed at the center of a hole having a circular cross section provided at an upper portion and an intermediate portion, and a lower surface of a stopper portion 21F provided at the shaft portion 21A of the rotating member 21 as will be described later. It is rotatably held between the slide guide portion 61A and the upper end surface of the fixed base 61 on the housing 6 side.
The rotation member 41 has a detent portion 41 in which a part of the outer peripheral portion of the shaft portion 41A is formed in a non-circular shape such as a square cross section.
D is formed. Note that a pulley 43 in which a pair of wires (not shown) is wound around a lower end portion is fixed to the shaft portion 41A.

The pulley 43 is rotated integrally with the knob 4A by the knob 4A in either the forward or reverse direction and rotated by the same angle in the same direction, thereby winding one of the wires. At the same time, the other is paid out. That is, by the winding / unwinding operation of the wire, the bending portion is pulled in one of the left and right directions and bent in the same direction.

On the other hand, the contact member 42 is disposed immediately above a friction member 54, which will be described later, and has a non-circular corner at the center thereof which is engaged with the detent portion 41D of the rotating member 41. An interlocking portion 42A having an opening or the like is provided. That is, the interlocking portion 42A engages with the locking portion 41D,
It can rotate integrally with the rotation member 41.

The interlocking part 42 of the contact member 42
The upper and lower surfaces on the center side near A are sandwiched from the vertical direction between the step 41E of the shaft 41A and the upper end surface of the slide guide 61A on the fixed base 61 side. At a fixed height with respect to 3, the knob 4A is integrally rotated.

The lock operation unit 5 for up and down is for holding the rotation operation of the bending operation unit 4 in a locked state by using a lock mechanism 7B described later, and is rotatable about the rotation shaft 3. Knob 5A for right and left locking, which is mounted on the rotary member 51, a rotating member 51 integrally fixed with the knob 5A, and a brake rod 52 fixed to the rotating member 51 with a fine adjustment screw 51A.
And a brake member 53 screwed to the brake rod 52
And a friction member 54 fixed to the brake member 53.

The rotating member 51 has an opening 51B having a central opening, and a knob 5A is integrally attached thereto. An opening 51B is provided in the rotating member 51.
The brake rod 52 is rotatably disposed on the
After fine adjustment of the mounting position of the brake rod 52 in the vertical direction with respect to, the fine adjustment screws 51A are used to integrally fix them. Thereby, the brake rod 52 also rotates by the same angle in the same direction by the turning operation of the knob 5A.

The brake rod 52 has a substantially cylindrical shape with an open lower part, and is provided with a female screw portion 52A having a female screw thread on the inner peripheral surface side. The brake rod 52 has a cylindrical projection 52B formed on the upper portion thereof. The projection 52B is configured to abut against a rotation groove 41F provided on the upper side of the rotation member 41 from below. Step 41 provided in the rotating member 41 while being inserted in the state
E is rotatably supported by an O-ring S4.

The brake member 53 has a substantially cylindrical shape, and is provided on the outer peripheral surface thereof with a male screw portion 53A having a male screw threaded with the female screw portion 52A of the brake rod 52. The brake member 53 is partially O-ring S
5 and is inserted and screwed into the brake rod 52. A non-circular slide portion 53B such as a square hole is provided at the center of the brake member 53. An O-ring portion is provided on a non-circular slide guide portion 61A provided above the fixed base 61. It is engaged movably in the vertical direction via S6. As described above, since the brake member 53 is prevented from rotating, when the brake rod 52 is rotated, the brake member 53 is vertically pushed out by the action of the screw, and the slide guide portion 6 is pushed.
It is configured to move linearly in the direction of the axis L of the rotating shaft 3 along the outer peripheral surface of 1A.

As will be described later, the friction member 54 is formed in a substantially donut shape using a material having a large friction coefficient such as cork or rubber. Has become.

The housing 6 includes a fixed pedestal 61 for rotatably supporting the shaft portions 21A and 41A on the bending operation sections 2 and 4 side, a substrate 62 for fixing the fixed pedestal 61, the fixed pedestal 61 and the housing body 6 And a lid 63 that rotatably closes between the two via O-rings S7 and S8.

The lock mechanism 7 prevents the bending operation sections 2 and 4 constituting a part of each of the left and right and up and down bending mechanisms from rotating unnecessarily, thereby temporarily locking the bending section. It is to be kept in a locked state. For example,
The lock mechanism 7A for left and right is composed of a brake rod 12, a brake member 13, a friction member 14, a contact member 22, and the like. Rotating shaft 3 by screw action
Is moved in the direction of the axis L (vertical), and the frictional member 14 is pressed against the contact member 22 by using the moving force in the axial direction, and the contact member 22 (the bending operation section 2) rotates. Is prevented by friction.

On the other hand, the up / down lock mechanism 7B comprises a brake rod 52, a brake member 53, a friction member 54, and a contact member 42, and the left / right lock mechanism 7A.
By the same operation as described above, the abutting member 42 (the bending operation section 4) is prevented from rotating.

Next, the friction member 14 (5
4) will be described with reference to FIGS. The friction member 14 (54) according to this embodiment is the same as that shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG.
1, the brake member 13 (5
3) A large number of uneven portions 14A are radially provided on the surface to be fixed to 3).
(54A) is engraved. As a result, a structure that is easily elastically deformed in the thickness direction, in other words, easily collapsed (see FIG. 9). The surface on which the uneven portion 14A (54A) is formed may be on the lower surface side in contact with the contact member 22 (42), contrary to the one shown in FIG. Further, as the shape of the friction member 14 (54), for example, as shown in FIG. 10, a hole 14B (54B) is formed in a radial direction from the side surface toward the center, and elastically deformed in the thickness direction. It is also possible to adopt a structure that is easy to perform, that is, easily collapsed.

Next, a lock operation using the friction member 14 according to this embodiment will be described. For example, when the knob 1A on the lock operation section 1 side is turned (tightened) after the bending section is bent into a desired curve shape, the brake rod 12 integrated therewith is also in the same direction with the lock operation section 1 in the same direction. Rotate by an angle. Then, by this rotation operation,
Male thread 1 screwed into female thread 12A of brake rod 12
The brake member 13 provided with 3A moves downward in the direction of the axis L of the rotating shaft 3 because the operation in the rotating direction is prevented. Accordingly, the friction member 14 fixed to the brake member 13 also moves downward (the state shown in FIG. 8A so far).

As a result, the friction member 14 comes into close contact with the contact member 22 which is integral with the turning member 21 on the bending operation section 2 side (see FIGS. 8B and 9). Then, by further tightening the knob 1A, the friction member 14 is strongly pressed against the contact member 22, so that the friction member 14 generates frictional force generated between the two.
That is, the turning operation of the bending operation unit 2 on the second side is prevented.

This allows the insertion section to be inserted into a deep and narrow observation target such as a body cavity or an observation target of a jet engine while appropriately bending the bending portion, thereby observing a desired portion. Even if the finger or the like accidentally touches the knob 2A of the bending operation section 2 by mistake, the locked state can be maintained because the friction member 14 is strongly pressed against the contact member 22. As a result, for example, it is possible to prevent a problem that the bending operation unit 2 is inadvertently rotated, the bending mechanism is operated, and the bending state of the bending unit is displaced, so that a desired observation site cannot be displaced. You can do it.

In particular, the friction member 14 according to this embodiment
According to (54), since the friction member 14 (54) is easily expanded and contracted, a large stroke in the direction of the axis L of the rotating shaft 3 can be secured during the locking operation. As a result, for example, it is possible to sufficiently secure play until the brake starts to work, and it is possible to prevent the braking force from suddenly increasing due to a short stroke. As a result, the half lock can be easily set. For example, the half lock can be set at a position that is easy to operate, thereby improving the usability. Further, according to the friction members 14 and 54 according to this embodiment, a large stroke in the direction of the axis L of the rotating shaft 3 can be ensured, so that a change in the braking force per unit stroke length can be set small. This makes it easy to adjust the brake and eliminates the need for fine adjustment.

[0046]

According to the present invention, the friction member is formed in a shape which is liable to be elastically deformed in the thickness direction, so that a large stroke can be secured until the brake starts to work. This makes it easy to adjust the brake and eliminates the need for fine adjustment.

Further, according to the present invention, a large stroke can be secured until the brake starts to work, so that the distance from the start position of the brake operation to the lock position where the brake can be fully used is made longer. The half lock can be freely selected within this intermediate position and set easily.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external view showing an entire structure of an endoscope to which an operation device of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing the entire operation device of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view showing an upper side of the operating device shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view showing a lower side of the operating device shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view showing an upper side of the operating device shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view showing a lower side of the operation device shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a friction member of the present invention.

FIG. 8 shows the operation of the friction member shown in FIG. 7,
(A) is a perspective view showing an unlocked state, and (B) is a perspective view showing a locked state.

FIG. 9 is a front view showing a shape change when the friction member shown in FIG. 7 is locked.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing a modified example of the friction member according to the present invention, in which (A) shows an unlocked state and (B) shows a locked state.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing a conventional friction member.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 (for left and right lock) lock operation unit 1A (for left and right lock) knob 12 Brake rod (right and left lock mechanism) 13 Brake member (left and right lock mechanism) 13B Slide part 13C Circular shaft part 14 Friction member (for left and right lock) (Lock mechanism) 2 (for left and right) bending operation section 2A (for right and left bending operation) knob 21 rotating member 22 applying member 23 pulley 3 rotating shaft 3A square shaft portion 3B round shaft portion 3C base portion 4 (for vertical) bending Operating part 4A (for bending operation) knob 41 Rotating member 42 Applying member 43 Pulley 5 (for vertical locking) Lock operating part 5A (for right and left locking) knob 51 Rotating member 52 Brake rod (up and down locking mechanism) 53 Brake member (up / down lock mechanism) 53B Slide section 54 Friction member (up / down lock mechanism) 6 Housing 61 Fixed base 62 Board 7A (for left and right lock) lock mechanism 7A (for vertical lock) lock mechanism

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A bending mechanism for rotating a knob for bending operation to bend the distal end side of an insertion portion to be inserted into an observation target, and a rotating knob for locking operation to rotate the bending mechanism. A lock mechanism for holding the moving operation in a locked state, and the frictional member provided on the lock mechanism side is brought into close contact with the abutting member provided on the bending mechanism side for the bending operation by rotating the knob for locking operation. An endoscope operating device for preventing rotation of a knob, wherein the friction member is formed in a shape that easily undergoes elastic deformation in a thickness direction. 2. The endoscope operating device according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of gaps are provided for facilitating elastic deformation of the friction member in a thickness direction. 3. The operating device for an endoscope according to claim 2, wherein the gap provided in the friction member is formed of irregularities or holes. 4. The endoscope operating device according to claim 2, wherein the gap provided in the friction member is formed radially. 5. The friction member according to claim 1, wherein the friction member is formed in a disk shape, and is formed so as to cause displacement in the thickness direction more easily than displacement in the circumferential direction. The operating device for an endoscope according to claim 1.